Tenacious Tinnitus Club – Ear Pressure, Noise and Hyperacusis

[[Ma...]]

My tinnitus is blaringly loud tonight....the cicadas are chirping in my brain, so I'm heading over to try out the methods mentioned....I'll let you know if this works:

 

[move]  :brickwall: HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO KEEP DOING THIS  :brickwall: :brickwall: :wacko: :brickwall: :brickwall: :sick: :brickwall: :brickwall: :o :o HOW AM I DOING

[[Bi...]]

My tinnitus is blaringly loud tonight....the cicadas are chirping in my brain, so I'm heading over to try out the methods mentioned....I'll let you know if this works:

 

[move]  :brickwall: HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO KEEP DOING THIS  :brickwall: :brickwall: :wacko: :brickwall: :brickwall: :sick: :brickwall: :brickwall: :o :o HOW AM I DOING

 

I am so sorry mama,  I would try sound therapy.  Ipod or MP3 player with ear buds can be a big help. Tinnitus maskers helped me BIG TIME too.  Sometimes I will put on the ear phones and just blast myself with loud sound until I forget about the T.  It all helps to get us by as we heal.  This is just GABAergic inhibition of the cochlea, it will get better as receptors come back and the glutamate levels fade down to normal over a long period of time.

 

Love Birdie :smitten:

[Guest [Ti...]]

The tinnitus is starting to drive me insane!!!!! I've had it since December, it started when I was drinking heavily but now it's gotten worse ughhhh, does it eventually go away? After we are healed or do some people have it forever?

[[Bi...]]

The tinnitus is starting to drive me insane!!!!! I've had it since December, it started when I was drinking heavily but now it's gotten worse ughhhh, does it eventually go away? After we are healed or do some people have it forever?

 

Tinnitus is well known as the last symptom to go away.  It can take a year or two after jumping but gets better with time.  In many cases tinnitus is telling your body to taper a bit slower.  It should go away.  It's a lack of Gaba in your brain and too much glutamate excitability.  It will go away but its going to take a while.

[[No...]]

I'm six weeks post-jump and the tinnitus is barely noticeable now. A few flare-ups, but they don't last very long.

 

The hyperacusis is almost gone, too. This was *awful* through most of my taper, so it's a great relief.

 

(Knock wood!)

 

[[or...]]

Good to know. It gives me hope. I can tolerate the T but barely. How I would love to be rid of it. And the hyperacusis is not fun either, but it's infrequent.

 

Okatz

[[No...]]

Good to know. It gives me hope. I can tolerate the T but barely. How I would love to be rid of it. And the hyperacusis is not fun either, but it's infrequent.

 

Okatz

 

The audio symptoms may get better for you at the lower doses, oregon. They did for me--especially the hyperacusis. And like I said, I get flare-ups of tinnitus post-jump, but they don't last more than an hour now.

 

It's weird, because I find that if I think about tinnitus (like now), I notice it. If I'm distracted, I don't notice it at all. That's a far cry from much of my taper, when it was screeching awful and there was no ignoring it.

[[pr...]]

i know the hperacusis is much better but there are still some days like this last week where i have to plug my ears up 15 times per day from the train, trash truck, motocycles on the freeway, clanking of the dishes and silverware. still makes me feel nauseated too. and this morning my left ear was hurting so badly. i was afraid for any noise her sound. it's better now.

 

that damn hyperacusis symptom

 

i've had a little tinnitus on and off and i can see how you folks would go crazy when it's constant

[[Bi...]]

i know the hperacusis is much better but there are still some days like this last week where i have to plug my ears up 15 times per day from the train, trash truck, motocycles on the freeway, clanking of the dishes and silverware. still makes me feel nauseated too. and this morning my left ear was hurting so badly. i was afraid for any noise her sound. it's better now.

 

that damn hyperacusis symptom

 

i've had a little tinnitus on and off and i can see how you folks would go crazy when it's constant

 

Hi Pretty, Do you get real EAR PAIN??  I thought I was the only one.  On bad days it feels like a full blown ear infection.  Has any one here ever had inner ear PAIN from T and H??

 

Birdie.

[[li...]]

I have the ear pain also.

[[or...]]

Yes to the pain. Oh yes. Sometimes I have all I can do to talk myself out of going to the ER. Four doctors have  already looked in my ears and told me there is no infection going on. No redness. I do not have a temp. I am fine. I just have to get a grip on myself. So there's pain . . . take a Tylenol, I tell myself. Aaaargh. Some days are worse than others. Mostly I try to ignore it . .  or tell myself the pain will probably be gone tomorrow. It usually is.  Or the next day. But it always comes baaaaaack, whine. Usually in my left ear.

 

Not fun.

 

Okatz

[[pr...]]

I'm six weeks post-jump and the tinnitus is barely noticeable now. A few flare-ups, but they don't last very long.

 

The hyperacusis is almost gone, too. This was *awful* through most of my taper, so it's a great relief.

 

(Knock wood!)

 

 

this is awesome NKN!

[[Bi...]]

Yes to the pain. Oh yes. Sometimes I have all I can do to talk myself out of going to the ER. Four doctors have  already looked in my ears and told me there is no infection going on. No redness. I do not have a temp. I am fine. I just have to get a grip on myself. So there's pain . . . take a Tylenol, I tell myself. Aaaargh. Some days are worse than others. Mostly I try to ignore it . .  or tell myself the pain will probably be gone tomorrow. It usually is.  Or the next day. But it always comes back, whine. Usually in my left ear.

 

Not fun.

 

Okatz

 

Hi Linder and Katz,  That is good to know, I do not feel so bad now.  How can this create ear pain?  That's crazy.  One of the moderators said that the little hairs in the cochlea are actually vibrating real fast from the glutamate overload.

 

My left ear is the bad one too.  I only used it as a sleep aid.  I noticed those people get it in the left ear.  People who took it during the day get it in both ears.  I did notice more people using benzo's as a sleep aid had a left ear problem. Maybe since benzo's turn off the left brain more during sleep.  Thoughts?

[[Ju...]]

Yes to the pain. Oh yes. Sometimes I have all I can do to talk myself out of going to the ER. Four doctors have  already looked in my ears and told me there is no infection going on. No redness. I do not have a temp. I am fine. I just have to get a grip on myself. So there's pain . . . take a Tylenol, I tell myself. Aaaargh. Some days are worse than others. Mostly I try to ignore it . .  or tell myself the pain will probably be gone tomorrow. It usually is.  Or the next day. But it always comes baaaaaack, whine. Usually in my left ear.

 

Not fun.

 

Okatz

 

Hi Linder and Katz,  That is good to know, I do not feel so bad now.  How can this create ear pain?  That's crazy.  One of the moderators said that the little hires are actually vibrating real fast from the glutamate overload.

Bird, I know you love to research so here's the info.  "Organ of corti", tinnitus <~~~ google search terms. 

 

The Organ of Corti is located throughout the cochlea. 

[[Ra...]]

Juliea, since you are on this thread today, I thought I'd tell you I'm going to attempt to follow in your footsteps and try dry cutting my Xanax by .0625 mg every 2 weeks.  I start sometime shortly after March 7th, that's when I see my doc for him to script the smaller dose pills I'll need to cut with.  I'm going to skip the large cuts you made at the beginning.  I'm nervous to make those large of cuts.  This amounts initially to only about a 2% cut, but I'm a wiener when it comes to s/x, so I hope this slow start will help me.  It sounds like you may be tougher than me.  I may have to adjust at some point, slow down or maybe c/o to valium, but I'm going to try it 'Juliea' style to start with 

[[Ju...]]

Juliea, since you are on this thread today, I thought I'd tell you I'm going to attempt to follow in your footsteps and try dry cutting my Xanax by .0625 mg every 2 weeks.  I start sometime shortly after March 7th, that's when I see my doc for him to script the smaller dose pills I'll need to cut with.  I'm going to skip the large cuts you made at the beginning.  I'm nervous to make those large of cuts.  This amounts initially to only about a 2% cut, but I'm a wiener when it comes to s/x, so I hope this slow start will help me.  It sounds like you may be tougher than me.  I may have to adjust at some point, slow down or maybe c/o to valium, but I'm going to try it 'Juliea' style to start with 

I think you'll be suprized at how smoothly this will go for you Rabbit.  You're at 3mg, so as you say, doing a .0625mg cut now, will be a very, very low % cut.  I believe this will help you heal on your way down in dose.  You would not even reach 10%, cutting this same amount, until you get to just above .50mg.  By that time, I'll bet you will feel like you can continue to cut .0625 until you are off.  I believe that doing a smaller % cut starting just above 1.5mg helped me heal a great deal and allowed me to step off of the benzo and suffer no acute withdrawal.  I actually cut on an average of 8 to 14 days.  My last number of cuts before I jumped were done on day 8.  By that time in my taper I knew exactly how long I needed to hold and I was able to clip along until I was free.  I'm so happy you've decided to start your taper.  You're gonna do great!  

[[Ra...]]

Thank you for the support Juliea.  I hope I get the hang of this and the s/x will be manageable.  That was my very thought, low percentage to start with to let my brain get used to it.  The flat cuts makes me a little nervous, but we'll see how it goes.  Thank you again for your example and support!

[[Bi...]]

Yes to the pain. Oh yes. Sometimes I have all I can do to talk myself out of going to the ER. Four doctors have  already looked in my ears and told me there is no infection going on. No redness. I do not have a temp. I am fine. I just have to get a grip on myself. So there's pain . . . take a Tylenol, I tell myself. Aaaargh. Some days are worse than others. Mostly I try to ignore it . .  or tell myself the pain will probably be gone tomorrow. It usually is.  Or the next day. But it always comes baaaaaack, whine. Usually in my left ear.

 

Not fun.

 

Okatz

 

Hi Linder and Katz,  That is good to know, I do not feel so bad now.  How can this create ear pain?  That's crazy.  One of the moderators said that the little hires are actually vibrating real fast from the glutamate overload.

Bird, I know you love to research so here's the info.  "Organ of corti", tinnitus <~~~ google search terms. 

 

The Organ of Corti is located throughout the cochlea.

 

Cool   Thanks Juliea

[[Bi...]]

Just a note.  I Increased by BP medication (INDERAL) last night by 1/3 as a test an my tinnitus went down a tad. I will stay on the higher dose for a week and see what happens.  It's still way better today too!!

[[Bi...]]

Does anyone have any expericne with Campral??

 

Found this on a google search.

Campral is a treatment initially endorsed for the medication of alcohol addiction. Campral is glutamate opponent that attaches to glutamate receptors and slows down glutamate-induced neural activity which consequences in tinnitus. As stated at Druglib.com, in the September 2005 copy of The Brazilian Journal of Otolaryngology, Dr. Acevedo performed a clinical research with 25 tinnitus patients regarding the efficacy of Campral. The research revealed that 87% of the patients had certain extent of respite from the indications of tinnitus and almost 48% of the partakers had a 50% cutback in the related indications of tinnitus.

[[...]]

Hi Bird

I looked at Campral some time ago and posted on it. The drug certainly looks like it could be effective in benzo withdrawal including the side effect of tinnitus. If I were having a tough time, I certainly would try it. I think Braban was interested in it also, but said it was expensive. Here's the wiki link if anyone wants to start reading about the drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acamprosate

Bart

[[Ju...]]

Yes to the pain. Oh yes. Sometimes I have all I can do to talk myself out of going to the ER. Four doctors have  already looked in my ears and told me there is no infection going on. No redness. I do not have a temp. I am fine. I just have to get a grip on myself. So there's pain . . . take a Tylenol, I tell myself. Aaaargh. Some days are worse than others. Mostly I try to ignore it . .  or tell myself the pain will probably be gone tomorrow. It usually is.  Or the next day. But it always comes baaaaaack, whine. Usually in my left ear.

 

Not fun.

 

Okatz

 

Hi Linder and Katz,  That is good to know, I do not feel so bad now.  How can this create ear pain?  That's crazy.  One of the moderators said that the little hires are actually vibrating real fast from the glutamate overload.

Bird, I know you love to research so here's the info.  "Organ of corti", tinnitus <~~~ google search terms. 

 

The Organ of Corti is located throughout the cochlea.

 

Cool   Thanks Juliea

Cool video!  As you can see the cochlea's organ of Corti is somewhat like a piano key board if we were able to uncoil it and stretch it out.  When sound first enters the cochlea, the Organ of Corti hair cells that interpret high pitched sounds are hit with the vibrations first.  The high pitched vibrations stop right there.  Those hair cells get worn out over time, because they get hit with vibrations more often than the hair cells deeper inside the cochlea. The low pitched sounds have to travel all the way to the very inside of the snail shaped cochlea to get interpreted before the brain can make sense of the sound.  But all of these lower pitched sounds also do a sort of 'crushing pass by' of the hair cells that interpret high frequency vibrations. 

 

Due to the organ of Corti's high pitch-interpreting hair cells getting hit with vibrations more often than the low pitch interpreting one's, this is one of the reasons I believe we who are going through benzo withdrawal get hit with a high pitch tinnitus.  These cells/hairs are already weaker than the low pitch one's due to how the cochlea is arranged.  If the low pitch interpreting hair cells were at the entrance to the cochlea, our tinnitus would be very low pitched.  But this isn't the case and it isn't the way the anatomy of the cochlea is arranged.

 

In benzo withdrawal,  no external sound is needed to cause the high pitch interpreting hair cells to start vibrating on their own.  They are vibrating because they are reacting to something.  Is this excess or unbridled glutamate?  Very possibly.  Is this just because they are over sensitized due to the effects of the Benzo?  That too.   

 

But the reason our tinnitus is high pitched certainly has to do with the location of the high frequency interpreting cells within the cochlea's organ of Corti.  Of that I have little doubt.  We're hearing something all right.  Our brain is sensing/hearing all of those danged high frequency hair cells vibrating.

 

It's very likely that all of this excess hair cell vibrating will eventually calm down.  But we're dealing with microscopic parts of the body.  We are also dealing with the overtaxed hair cells to begin with.  These cells do not recover in the case of chronic hearing loss and our high frequency hearing due to the location of the high pitch interpreting cells, is the first to go, with age.  Tinnitus can be a sticky symptom.   

[[Bi...]]

Juliea, the question in my mind is can benzo withdrawal cause damage to the hair cells?  My T has got much better since I started my retaper but in C/T words can't began to describe what I was hearing, like a fog horn in my ear 24/7 month after month.  Then when I reinstated it only got only a little better and that shocked me as I thought is was ALL gaba related.  The only thing that is helping me is time.  -  I wonder if that much glutamate can vibrate the hair cells from the Inside out and damage them?  Google has no answers to that question except ototoxic chemical damage from drugs like CHEMO that just outright kill the cells off but GLUTAMATE is not on that list for ototoxic chemical's.  I just hope this T goes away someday.  One thing is for sure, going back on benzo's will not help me now.  I wish I have more answers, not knowing is the worst thing :'( 

 

Also broken hairs can't cause pain so the pain has to be vestibular pressure right?  They say vestibular pressure can be caused when coming off benzo's, so is that the pain we feel?  Can that cause damage?  What kind of damage can an ear infection in the cochlea cause?  See where I am going with this??

[[Ju...]]

Juliea, the question in my mind is can benzo withdrawal cause damage to the hair cells?

 

Very possibly, but I strongly don't believe the damage would be permanent. 

 

My T has got much better since I started my retaper but in C/T words can't began to describe what I was hearing, like a fog horn in my ear 24/7 month after month. 

That sounds awful Bird.  Mine when at it's worse sounded like really loud cicadas. 

 

I wonder if that much glutamate can vibrate the hair cells from the Inside out and damage them? 

Interesting question.  The organ of corti and the hair like structures have many parts, both internal and external.  We don't know that glutamate is the culprit, for certain though.  I can't imagine glutamate "actually vibrating" the cells themselves.  I picture the cells themselves vibrating independently.

 

Google has no answers to that question except ototoxic chemical damage from drugs like CHEMO that just outright kill the cells off but GLUTAMATE is not on that list for ototoxic chemical's.  I just hope this T goes away someday. 

With all of the tinnitus associated with psych drug use, you'd think there would be more research in this area to help patients.  I do believe it will get better, but it will take some time.

 

 

Also broken hairs can't cause pain so the pain has to be vestibular pressure right?  They say vestibular pressure can be caused when coming off benzo's, so is that the pain we feel?  Can that cause damage?  What kind of damage can an ear infection in the cochlea cause?  See where I am going with this??

Not necessarily.  Most 'common' ear infection originate in the middle ear, (behind the ear drum through to the oval window) and if left unchecked can progress into the inner ear.  Most of the pain with a common ear infection is related to fluid build up in the middle ear. 

 

The vestibular system is located in the Semicirular Canal section of the Labryrinth, (inner ear).  I know more about the middle ear and cochlea because I was not really interested in vestibular disorders and my expertise is more related to the structure of the hearing mechanism as it relates to sound.

 

Bird, if you feel you might have some kind of chronic inner ear infection, please see an ENT.  Sometimes not everything is withdrawal.

[[pr...]]

They say vestibular pressure can be caused when coming off benzo's, so is that the pain we feel?  Can that cause damage?  What kind of damage can an ear infection in the cochlea cause?  See where I am going with this??

 

i don't know about the damage part. but i would say that the vestibular pressure can be a painful feeling.